Success Stories Page 3

Team RTC cleaned up the Capital Crescent Trail in Washington, D.C. for Make a Difference Day. | Photo by Suzanne Matyas

In honor of the 25th Make a Difference Day, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy team took to the Capital Crescent Trail for a celebratory cleanup! Recognized on the fourth Saturday of every October, this annual day of service unites volunteers all across the country to help improve the lives of others.

As a culmination of our summer youth programming in the Greater Philadelphia Area, RTC brought 23 young people together this August for our second annual Youth Sojourn—a five-day bike ride over 170 miles of Circuit Trails in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Led by RTC Youth Engagement Coordinator Jolie Chylack and several Youth Leaders, the sojourn capped off a great summer of watershed health education programming.

During Memorial Day weekend, RTC’s Youth Leaders in the Philadelphia/Camden area attended the Youth Bike Summit at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jaymere Copeland, Paul Jewell and Allen Williams joined young people from across the country to learn and share ideas focused on using cycling as a tool to improve communities.

Earlier in 2016, we posted "Ten Trails That Helped Build the Movement" in honor of RTC’s 30th anniversary in 2016. But of course, with almost 2,000 completed rail-trails across the country, we just scratched the surface. In 1986, there were only 250 miles of rail-trails. Three decades later—thanks to a lot of passionate people—rail-trails have transformed America.
Here are 10 more game-changing rail-trails (in no particular order) that have had an impact, as destinations, recreation magnets, economic drivers or transportation connectors, in the U.S.

The “First State” in the Union just achieved another first—and this one has important implications for the active-transportation movement. Earlier this month, Delaware passed an innovative policy tool that will enable communities to become more bikeable and walkable.

Ed Rasbach of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and his two dogs, on the Merchantville Bike Path | Photo by Laura Pedrick/AP Images

Over the past 10 years, RTC has implemented 20-plus rail-trail surveys in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to determine just how much of an impact trail users have had on the region. These infographics, which are aggregates of data from more than 9,000 surveys, convey the power of local northeast pathways on tourism, health and physical activity.

Thanks to the grassroots mobilization of thousands of cyclists and trail users this spring, legislation that could have had negative repercussions for active transportation around the country officially died this week with the close of the Tennessee General Assembly’s annual session.

Kicking off the weekend on April 15, a group of bicyclists in the Greater Philadelphia area took a ride on the Ben Franklin Bridge to help launch the 750-mile Circuit Trails network! | Photo courtesy RTC

This year's Opening Day for Trails was the best yet—and we've got the photos to prove it. There were more than 150 official events across the country to celebrate Spring and officially kick off the trail season. Here are a few examples.

May Theilgaard Watts was a writer, illustrator, naturalist, scientist and teacher. Her determination that Americans stay connected to their natural landscape in a time of increasing urbanization was the catalyst that led to the formation of the 61-mile Illinois Prairie Path, which today forms a 61-mile web through the Chicago Area.

The U.S. rail-trail movement began not with a bang—but as an intriguing idea that quietly took hold in the Midwest in the 1960s and eventually spread across the country. Here's a brief history of the rail-trail movement and a glimpse of RTC's future focus on regional trail networks.

In February 1986, RTC opened its doors—and since that time, trails have become the fabric of our existence—for health and physical activity, transportation, economic development, recreation and cultural impact. (They are, in a word, awesome.)
In honor of RTC’s 30th anniversary, here are 10 game-changers of the rail-trail movement.

Many are familiar with the League of American Bicyclists’ List of Bike Friendly Businesses. Another category the League ranks is Bicycle Friendly Universities (BFUs). This list has only been active for four years, but the last round of designations graduated to a new level with a record-breaking number of top-performing colleges.